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Book Review By David Loftus
The Titian Committee by Iain Pears

This is the second of Pears' art mystery series starring the clever government investigator, Flavia di Stefano of the Italian National Art Theft Squad, and British art historian/dealer Jonathan Argyll. When Louise Masterson, an American member of an international committee working on cataloguing the complete works of Renaissance Venetian painter Titian is found stabbed to death in Venice, Flavia is sent there as political window dressing on the investigation: she's not supposed to get in the way of the local police and merely rubber stamp their findings. (They're sure it was a robbery killing.)

Once in Venice, she runs into Jonathan, the British art student she met in The Raphael Affair, who is now buying art for the dealer Sir Edward Byrnes. It turns out one of the minor paintings Jonathan was trying to purchase from a local Marchesa had excited the interest of the victim, Ms. Masterson. Then another member of the committee, Professor Roberts, is found drowned in a Venice canal, and things the situation gets more complicated. Flavia and Jonathan will follow the clues to Milan, Padua, and even rural southeast France where they'll find a third body.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain? - Moderately Challenging
Time/era of story:
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60%
Murder of certain profession?
Misc. Murder Plotlets - local police w/ IQ of a houseplant
Kind of investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
descript. of violence and chases - 10 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Race

Main Adversary
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
How sensitive is this character?

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - Italy
Water? Yes
Water: - drowning
Misc setting - resort/hotel

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Unusual forms of death - perforation--swords/knives
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
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